This invention generally relates to location beacons and a Wi-Fi connection capture device, and more particularly relates to wireless systems and methods for determining the chances that a user drops out of an educational institution, and for delivering Internet content, such as advertising information, a coupon, video, or picture, by providing information associated with a location beacon to a mobile communications device of a user that is in proximity with the location beacon.
Colleges and universities are under intense pressure to control rising costs and, in turn, rising tuition. One very important factor, and one where the educational institution can have significant control and impact, is student retention, namely how to keep students on campus after their initial enrollment. Dropout rates at United States colleges and universities can approach 46%, with lost revenues and costs approaching $16,000,000,000 a year.
There have been numerous studies that isolate key factors that can influence student retention rates. They can range from analyzing SAT scores to parental involvement with hundreds of factors in between. These factors also vary greatly from institution to institution, depending on student demographics and the institutional mission, goals and policies. With such numerous possibilities existing, it is currently difficult for an educational institution to easily determine the chances of a student dropping out of a college or university. Therefore, it is desirable to find a new and unique approach to determine the chances that a user drops out of an educational institution. One such new and unique approach involves the use of location beacons and a Wi-Fi capture method.
The advent of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communications technology has allowed for the development of wireless transmitters to be used as location beacons. This technology allows for ascertaining the proximity of a mobile communications device to an individual location beacon by determining the strength of a signal transmitted from the location beacon, a feature which can also be used for determining the geo-location of the mobile communications device. Moreover, location beacons are prevalently used for interacting with a mobile communication device, with applications including identification of an individual location beacon, identification of an individual mobile communications device, and facilitating communication between them through mobile communications device software.
For example, personal media devices with wireless communication are known that have the ability to communicate wirelessly using a short-range communications protocol to provide access to wireless oriented applications, such as to wirelessly download a podcast when it becomes available, or to provide content specific or local to a merchant to personal media devices in wireless communication with a wireless router affiliated with the merchant, such as a restaurant menu. Such systems can also be utilized to maintain a wait list for customers waiting to use a physical resource, such as a table at the restaurant, and dynamic updating of wait times.
Such interaction is typically facilitated by communication with a server through the Internet. Typically the mobile communications device, such as a mobile phone, for example, submits a beacon contact or identifier to the server when the mobile phone is proximate to the location beacon. The server interprets and identifies the location of the beacon, such as a particular retail space, and then communicates information related to the identified retail space, such as advertising or coupons, to the mobile phone.
For example, a system is known that includes a sensor adapted to transmit a wireless beacon signal including a sensor ID associated with the sensor, a mobile device adapted to receive the wireless beacon signal and provide a location of the mobile device, and a server adapted to receive the location of the mobile device and the sensor ID, generate instructions based at least partly on the received information, and send the instructions to the mobile device.
As another example, a short range wireless beacon system is known that includes a mobile station that detects entry into an area utilizing short range or near field radio-frequency beacon signals from a short range wireless beacon located in the area. The mobile station transmits an identifier from the beacon signal to a location server that determines the location of the mobile station, and presents the user with a map of the area showing the location of the mobile station within the area, or identifies the user to personnel at the area to customize customer interactions.
However, these types of client-server systems can be very resource-intensive and potentially costly. In comparison to a central server computer, with large database capacity, processing capability, and a steady reliable source of power, a client mobile communications device, such as a mobile phone or smartphone, has limited storage capacity and limited battery power. Therefore, such systems rely on the central server computer to provide the resources necessary for processing data from a location beacon or Wi-Fi source, including interpreting and identifying an object or location associated with the location beacon, searching a database for Internet content to deliver that is related to the object or location associated with the location beacon, and delivering the Internet content relating to that object or location on the mobile phone, such as advertisements, coupons, videos, pictures, maps, restaurant menus, websites, or applications. Such content, especially videos, require a large amount of data to transfer from the server to the mobile phone, and when the location beacon is positioned in a densely populated area with hundreds or thousands of simultaneously proximate mobile phones, such as a major baseball stadium, high bandwidth usage can result from the delivery of this content. Such systems can prove costly to beacon application developers in maintaining sufficient bandwidth and in keeping their systems and servers up and running, particularly when multiple location beacons are used in densely populated areas. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a wireless beacon system and method that is both resource-effective and cost-effective.
Furthermore, typical location beacon technology systems require the download and use of location beacon technology software specific to an individual location, store, chain or other information provider on individual mobile communications devices. A user must typically download and install an application utilizing the location beacon technology on his or her mobile communications device before the location beacon technology system can work. If the user then enters another location managed by a separate information provider, the user must download and install a separate application. As a result, users are required to download and install multiple, separate software downloads that are specific to respective locations, stores, chains or other information providers if they want to receive location based services from different providers. Such a requirement becomes essentially unworkable as the number of information providers grows, for users may have to download and install tens and hundreds of applications onto their mobile phones to account for all information providers of interest. This practice may not only discourage users from using location beacon technology, but also use a large amount of storage and battery on the mobile communications device. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a wireless beacon system and method that efficiently provides individual applications for mobile communications devices with location based services from multiple locations, stores, chains or other information providers utilizing location beacon technology.
In addition, location beacon technology systems are typically platform restrictive. A location beacon typically requires a unique identifier to distinguish itself from other location beacons, and a location beacon technology application developer needs to be able to access this identifier in order to perform location based services. However, some operating system platforms allow easier access to an identifier than others, for example having a different file path for the identifier or a different encryption mechanism for the identifier. As a result, location beacon manufacturers typically design their location beacons to be compatible with only one type of operating system platform, potentially limiting the technology's usefulness. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a wireless beacon system and method that is applicable to multiple operating system platforms.
Hence, there is a need for a new and unique approach to determine the chances of a student dropping out of an educational institution. There is a further need for a wireless beacon system and Wi-Fi method that is resource-effective and cost-effective in the delivery of Internet content relating to objects or locations utilizing location beacon or Wi-Fi technology. There is a further need for a single system and method that can provide individual mobile communications or smart phone applications with location based services for multiple locations, stores, chains or other information providers utilizing location beacon technology. There is further a need for a wireless beacon system and method that is applicable for use on multiple operating system platforms. The present invention meets these and other needs.